Headshot Image of Instructor Scott McConnell, RN, BSN, CEN, NRP

Scott F. McConnell
RN, BSN, CEN, NRP

Scott is one of the original founders, current owner, and CEO of Distance CME. Since its inception in 2010, more than 20,000 learners worldwide have relied on Distance CME to recertify their credentials.

McConnell is a true believer in sharing not only his perspectives and experiences but also those of other providers in educational settings. Proudly serving in the United States Navy as an MS3 then He started in EMS in 1995. First certified as an EMT-M in Pennsylvania, he has transitioned to an EMT-B, EMT-P, NRP and RN. He currently is a PHRN in Pennsylvania and runs at a local squad PRN.

Always wanting to do more he tried several different career fields in EMS, transport, 911, cath lab, critical care transport, and finally circled his way back to EMS education. He founded Distance CME with two partners, and merged with Relias Learning in 2018. This relationship has enabled us to provide education to an ever-growing audience that sees live online education as the easiest, simplest way to get top quality education while you are working.

Headshot Image of Instructor Jeremy Gassert, BS, NRP, EMS-1

Jeremy Gassert
BS, NRP, EMS-I

Jeremy began his EMS career in Pennsylvania at the age of 16 when he became an emergency medical technician serving Tioga and Potter counties.

After high school, Gassert joined the U.S. Air Force where he served with distinction for nearly 10 years culminating as an aerospace medical services craftsman. During his tenure he received numerous awards, including Army and Air Force Commendations, Combat Action Medal and the Purple Heart. During his Air Force service, he became a paramedic and began his healthcare education career where he cultivated his passion and talents as an instructor. After separating from the military, he returned to civilian EMS and became an instructor with Distance CME in 2011. He has enjoyed an eclectic career serving in various roles within EMS. These roles include rural, urban and austere environments as well as pre-hospital and in-hospital care, and includes ground and air critical care transport EMS. Jeremy enjoys the outdoors as well as his passion for motorcycles.

Headshot Image of Instructor Lawrence Isaacs, MD, FAAEM

Lawrence Isaacs
MD, FAAEM

Isaacs is EMS director for Relias and medical director at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers, Fla. He was an associate medical director at Virtual Hospital in Voorhees, NJ, and clinical assistant professor (adjunct) of emergency medicine at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia.

He attended and graduated from UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in 1991 and has more than 26 years of diverse experience, specializing in emergency medicine.

Headshot Image of Instructor Jessica Arno, NRP, CPM, EMS-I

Holly Thomas 
BS, AS, FP-C, NRP: 

I have been in EMS since 2009.  Ever since I was 5 years old, I knew I needed to be in the medical field.  I have worked a lot of jobs in EMS, mostly because I always want to learn and do something new.

So, I have done 911 ambulance, interfacility transfers, I have worked in multiple war and disaster zones.  I have set up hospitals in a several different states and different countries, I have worked on movie sets, and more.  I love medicine, and I am fascinated by it.  I want to experience everything I possibly can by doing different things, and by traveling to a lot of different locations, and I want to share those experiences with others, including my students.

Headshot Image of Instructor Daniel J. Cotroneo, EMT

Daniel J. Cotroneo
EMT

Cotroneo is a retired fire captain from St. Paul, Minn., who lives in Fort Myers, Fla. He began his career in public service/emergency response in the early 1980s as a Navy Submarine Radioman/Damage Control crew member.

He worked for the St. Paul Fire Department from 1992-2014, as a firefighter/EMT and as captain for 15 years. He also has worked at the local community colleges as a lead instructor and has worked for other companies as well as his own company as an OSHA safety consultant.

He also owned his own insurance company that specialized in coverage for firefighter, law enforcement officers and EMS personnel. Since retirement, he has gone back to college to work on his theology degree and gone back to EMS training to give back to the men and women who he considers the backbone of our cities, our first responders.

Headshot Image of Instructor Charlene S, Jansen, EMT-P, BS, MM

Charlene S. Jansen
EMT-P, BS, MM

Jansen began her EMS career in 1980 at a small rural system in central Missouri. She obtained her paramedic certification from St. Louis University and began working for the City of St. Louis. During her tenure with the City of St. Louis, EMS merged with the St. Louis Fire Department.

She became the EMS training officer for 860 uniformed personnel. Her first paramedic class was held in 1991 and she has remained committed to all aspects of EMS education ever since. She has been the program manager for St. Louis Community College with an enrollment of more than 500 EMS students annually. She also gained valuable experience while employed by St. Louis Children’s Hospital in the emergency unit and as the trauma data analyst for the trauma division. She now holds the position of EMS faculty at Mineral Area College where she is responsible for EMS education. She holds a Bachelor of Science in EMS Management from Lindenwood University – Cum Laude and a Master of Management from Fontbonne University. She remains a licensed paramedic in the State of Missouri.

Headshot Image of Instructor Richard Main, MEd, NRP

Richard Main
MEd, NRP

Main is an EMS instructor who has worked in EMS since 1993 after obtaining his EMT from Johnson County Community College. He has lived in Kansas, Arizona and Nevada. While in Arizona, Main worked for Avra Valley Fire District in for 10 years and in private EMS in Southern Nevada.

He currently works as a professor of emergency medical services at the College of Southern Nevada and is lead instructor for Distance CME.

During that time, he obtained his paramedic certification and went back to school for a Bachelor’s in Business Management. He moved to Las Vegas in April 2004. He obtained his master’s degree in adult education with electives focused on distance education in 2012.

Headshot Image of Instructor Ed Moreland, NRP

Ed Moreland
NRP

Moreland is a Washington, DC native and a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and PA Army National Guard who has been actively engaged in EMS since 1990 when he ran his first EMS call as a volunteer in Montgomery County, Pa.

He is a national registered paramedic who has worked in a variety of EMS models, including nonprofit, for-profit, hospital-based and rural systems. He has served as a paramedic, supervisor, regulator, deputy chief and chief.

Moreland has served as the chair of the Pennsylvania EMS Provider Foundation for the past several years, overseeing a program that has provided more than $40,000 in EMS education grants to paramedic candidates. He is a multi-year participant and board member of the National EMS Memorial Bike, a series of long distance bicycling events to honor EMS providers who have died.

He also enjoys presenting at various EMS conferences on a wide variety of topics. When not working, Moreland is often found supporting the local BSA camps on the Health and Medical Committee.

Headshot Image of Instructor Amanda Page, NR-P, FP-C

Michele Huyette
 B.A., EMT-P, EMS-I

Michele is a (Ret.) Fire Lieutenant and Paramedic from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue where she was the company officer on an ALS Suppression Unit. She brings a unique perspective to DistanceCME as she was also a member of the Special Operations Team and has extensive Ocean Rescue experience. Michele also comes from a long line of family in public service with her father, brother and six uncles serving in the military. Her primary teaching goal is providing practical information that can be utilized on your next shift.

Her passion for education is driven by her never-ending goal to advance the pre-hospital profession, particularly in comprehension of pathophysiology. She believes that an understanding of the whole is a greater tool than the rote memorization of facts.

Headshot Image of Instructor Russ Ruszczyk, NRP

Russ Ruszczyk
NRP

Ruszczyk was an Army-trained X-ray technician with orders to Vietnam in 1968 but was re-routed to a unit assigned to the 101st Airborne at LZ Betty, where he became a medic. After his tour and certification as a radiologic technologist, he worked in several hospitals.

In 1981, he completed the paramedic program in Nebraska and has remained a registered paramedic ever since. In addition, to being a certified procurement transplant coordinator for five years he also worked as a volunteer firefighter/paramedic for 20 years while working a paid job in other professions.

He started his EMS career as a medic in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive. Then he became a registered radiology tech working mostly the adult cardiac cath lab with five years at a children’s hospital. In 1982 he became a registered paramedic, was a volunteer firefighter/paramedic for 20 years and taught for several university and college-based EMS programs. Then he became a certified procurement transplant coordinator and maintained brain dead organ donors in ICU for five years and worked aboard the casino riverboat, the Kannesville Queen.

Headshot Image of Instructor Kevin Wetherbee, AS, NRP, EMS-I

Kevin Wetherbee
AS, NRP, EMS-I

Wetherbee began his EMS career right out of high school in upstate New York in 1984. He became a paramedic in 1986 and has worked in some form of EMS system since that time.

He has experience in 911, non-emergent transport, emergency room care, inter-facility transport, critical care transport and industrial EMS.

He currently instructs for DistanceCME, is a critical care medic operating in Columbia, SC, and is an educational subcontractor for the Teleflex corporation, providing emergency medicine device education throughout the country.

He is a continuing education program administrator in South Carolina as well as an instructor in CPR, ACLS, PALS, PHTLS, AMLS and CEVO courses. He has earned his Associates of Applied Sciences degree in Emergency Medical Services and graduated with high honors from Corning Community College in Corning, NY.

Headshot Image of Instructor Kevin Wetherbee, AS, NRP, EMS-I

Tara Smith
BS, NRP, FP-C, EMS-I

Tara began her career as a firefighter in Florida, serving from 2002 to 2011, before transitioning to flight medicine.

In 2011, Tara also started teaching American Heart Association (AHA) courses, later advancing to the role of base educator for her flight program in 2013. She joined DistanceCME in 2017 as an instructor, primarily teaching critical care courses. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology through Central Washington University, graduating Summa Cum Laude. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in clinical psychology.
Tara currently works with a not-for-profit flight program in the Pacific Northwest, where she has the “best view from the office”. Outside of her professional commitments, she enjoys exploring the outdoors, skiing, attending hockey and baseball games, and experiencing local culture through comedy shows, live music, and theater. Tara lives with her French bulldog, Pearl, and her partner, Tim.

Headshot Image of Instructor Charlie Bortle, EdD, RRT-NPS, NREMT-P

Charlie Bortle
EdD, RRT-NPS, NREMT-P

In memory of one of the best EMS providers and instructors, Charlie Bortle, EdD, RRT-NPS, NREMT-P, we miss your wisdom, mirth and unwaving support for EMS. 

Uncle Charlie began his EMS career in Lancaster County, Pa., where he worked as a BLS and ALS provider since 1979. Additionally, Bortle was a registered respiratory therapist with pediatric/perinatal subspecialty certification.

He worked in respiratory critical care and the NICU on weekends and his critical care transport career was primarily at Sky FlightCare outside of Philadelphia. He was the director of the Center for Clinical Competency, a high-fidelity simulation center at Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, which specializes in nursing, resident and fellowship education, patient safety and research.

In addition to teaching with Distance CME, he taught the PA program at Arcadia University, and the MS in Disaster Medicine and Management program at Philadelphia University. During his career, he coordinated more than 60 paramedic programs, and held instructorships in virtually all major EMS related certification programs.

He had a doctorate in education and a master’s in education from the University of Phoenix. Recent publications include chapters in several well-known EMS textbooks, a chapter in a Physician Assistant Review Guide, and the Respiratory Arrest section in the Merck Manual. Bortle has multiple journal citations and assisted in the 1998 re-write of the National Standard Paramedic Curriculum. He was awarded 2013 EMS Educator of the Year by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. He was a mentor, friend, and great provider to all of his patients.

Headshot Image of Eric H. Nylander, MS, NRP

In Memoriam:

 Eric H. Nylander
MS, NRP,

Eric was an instructor who retired from the San Francisco Fire Department as a firefighter/paramedic captain. He had more than 30 years of practical emergency medical experience in-hospital (ED) and pre-hospital (EMS).

He also had more than 25 years of experience in adult education with medical professionals and the public. He taught in 20 countries and earned a masters degree in educational psychology and organizational development. He also served as training center faculty with the American Heart Association, Operation Smile ITC, Virginia Beach, Va.

He also held Tactical Medical Certification. He lived in Uppsala, Sweden, where he taught advanced and basic ERC and AHA courses. He also devoted a large part of his time and energy toward the development of medical training courses for first responders for Swedish Coast Water Rescue Services, SSRS and routinely volunteered for rescue patrol tours.